Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 324,227 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.6%, selling 324,227 shares, resulting in ownership of about 1.42 million shares valued at $166.5 million.
• Agilent Technologies reported revenue of $1.74 billion for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion, with earnings per share hitting the forecast of $1.37.
• Several institutional investors, including Valeo Financial Advisors and Cary Street Partners, increased their stakes in Agilent Technologies during the same quarter.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,423,627 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 324,227 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of Agilent Technologies worth $166,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in A. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.9% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 15.2% during the first quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 873 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.1% in the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of A stock opened at $124.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.16, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $119.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.13. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $153.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The medical research company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 17.97%.The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.560-5.590 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.570-1.600 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.25.

Agilent Technologies Profile

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; and vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.

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